0 comment Tuesday, July 1, 2014 | admin
Sara and I took a short vacation to visit some of her friends in Portland and bum around the city out for three days. I was pretty intent on renting some bikes to see for myself what all the hoopla is about, so we did just that.
The Hawthorne Hostel where we stayed had the best rental deals by far - $15/bike/day. But getting a hold of those bikes was like trying to get a rafting permit in the Grand Canyon. Sara's google skills found us a "worker owned" community bike shop called City Bikes:
When I called the shop to see if they had any rentals left, they said they had two "hybrids" which to me more closely resembled Frankenstein bikes.
I noticed that each one had stickers on them that said "The Cooperator." The lady at the shop said that because they are so ugly, we shouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing them. No kidding.
Sara's bike was a little small for her, but the great thing was that these bikes were solid. Considering they were probably assembled from 6 bikes each, they didn't make any noises, had "generator" headlights and tail lights that used wheel friction to power them, and rode like a dream. I took mine down a small flight of stairs and it handled them fine.
The roads were great, parks were great, and even the bridges were easy to navigate with no worry of being pounded by a bus.
The Hawthorne Hostel where we stayed had the best rental deals by far - $15/bike/day. But getting a hold of those bikes was like trying to get a rafting permit in the Grand Canyon. Sara's google skills found us a "worker owned" community bike shop called City Bikes:
When I called the shop to see if they had any rentals left, they said they had two "hybrids" which to me more closely resembled Frankenstein bikes.
I noticed that each one had stickers on them that said "The Cooperator." The lady at the shop said that because they are so ugly, we shouldn't have to worry about anyone stealing them. No kidding.
Sara's bike was a little small for her, but the great thing was that these bikes were solid. Considering they were probably assembled from 6 bikes each, they didn't make any noises, had "generator" headlights and tail lights that used wheel friction to power them, and rode like a dream. I took mine down a small flight of stairs and it handled them fine.
The roads were great, parks were great, and even the bridges were easy to navigate with no worry of being pounded by a bus.
Labels: Portland, Rental Bikes